Marketing intelligence is information that can be used to help devise and implement marketing strategies. It includes things like information about how one’s product is perceived, how one’s marketing efforts are going over with consumers, and what consumers want from a given type of product.

This sort of information can be gotten from sources within the firm or from external sources. Let us look at some external sources. One type of source would be companies that do research on consumer preferences and desires. These could be companies like JD Power and Associates, which collects information about things like customer satisfaction and how buyers behave. Another type of source would be something like the Arbitron or Nielsen companies. These companies examine radio and television outlets, respectively, and can provide good information about things like which TV or radio shows reach certain demographic groups. Finally, a firm could use things like census and other demographic data. These data could help the firm to identify potential markets.